This invention relates in general to traction devices and, in particular, to improved traction mats for automobiles, trucks and the like in the extrication of such vehicles from ice, snow, sand, mud or the like.
Traction mats have been used by automobile vehicles for many years to enable the vehicle to be driven out of a rut or pothole by gaining additional traction from materials placed into the path of the drive wheel. Numerous such means have been used by persons stuck in ice or snow, including sand, ashes, boards, burlap bags, pieces of carpeting, tire chains, expanded metal and the like. Such makeshift means are generally ineffective, being immediately caught and thrown out by the rotating traction wheels, subjecting bystanders to possible injury from the flying objects. In addition, the prior art is replete with mats having indentations in their surface, mats formed of various materials, including sheet metal with openings or indentations formed therein, and, in some cases, studs have been fastened to the mat. Such devices of the prior art have proven unsatisfactory for numerous reasons, including being overly expensive to manufacture, unsafe to handle because of sharp edges, etc., snow or mud being packed between the protuberances on the mat causing loss of traction, and various other reasons.